COURTHOUSE — A Pottstown man accused of strangling his girlfriend to death in February bowed his head and showed no emotion as his lawyer and a prosecutor battled in court about whether the killing was an intentional or heat of passion killing.

Edwin Carrero II, 33, through his lawyer Sharon Meisler, claimed he committed voluntary manslaughter because at the time he killed 31-year-old Alicia Schmidt he was “acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation” by Schmidt as she made racial slurs against his two children, who Carrero said are “half black,” from a previous marriage.

“The racial slurs being hurled at his children would incite any parent to lose their temper. There is a parental reflex to protect one’s children,” Meisler argued. “On this particular night he couldn’t control himself any more. He tried walking out and coming back but the venom of having your children be the objects of racial slurs was just too much for him.”

Meisler, who was assisted by co-defense lawyer Anita Seth, didn’t dispute that Carrero is responsible for Schmidt’s Feb. 2 death, but argued the first- and third-degree murder charges lodged against Carrero should be dismissed because the killing was a case of manslaughter, not an intentional killing.

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First-degree murder, a killing committed with specific intent to kill, is punishable of life imprisonment upon conviction while third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, is punishable of 20-to-40 years in prison. However, a voluntary manslaughter conviction carries a possible maximum sentence of 10-to-20 years in prison upon conviction.

Assistant District Attorney Wallis Brooks, who leads the district attorney’s domestic violence prosecution unit, argued the first- and third-degree murder charges should remain intact against Carrero because Schmidt’s death was an intentional killing committed with malice.

“This case involves specific intent to kill. He strangled the victim and he did it while her children were sleeping a few feet away. It was heartless, callous and cruel,” Brooks argued.

“To kill a young mother with her two children sleeping a few feet away and then dump her body on a cold, basement floor, steal her credit card, her car, and then head to the casinos, that’s rough stuff,” Brooks added.

Brooks characterized as “preposterous” Carrero’s claim that his conduct was a response to Schmidt’s use of racial slurs against his children. Brooks, implying Carrero’s claim “defies credibility,” argued there are no other witnesses who can support such a claim.

“All that other stuff is just smoke. We do know he killed her. We do know he did it by manual strangulation and we do know that in Pennsylvania that kind of crime is first-degree murder, specific intent to kill,” Brooks argued.

President Judge William J. Furber Jr. took the matter under advisement.

Carrero, who was supported in court by several relatives, is charged in connection with the alleged strangulation murder of Schmidt inside the 424 Cherry Street residence where Carrero periodically stayed with Schmidt. In addition to the murder-related charges, Carrero, who also listed an address along Norris Hall Lane in West Norriton, faces theft-related charges in connection with the alleged domestic altercation.

“I choked her with my hands,” Carrero allegedly told police during a Feb. 8 interrogation, adding he choked Schmidt for “a few minutes” in their second-floor bedroom. “When we fell to the floor I realized she wasn’t breathing anymore.”

Carrero, according to his police statement, claimed the strangulation occurred after he and Schmidt argued about her displeasure with his smoking in the house. Carrero also told police he grew angrier when Schmidt made racial slurs against his two children.

According to investigators, detectives interviewed Carrero’s ex-wife, who indicated that she received a phone call at 6:35 a.m. Feb. 2 from Carrero. During the call, Carrero allegedly told his ex-wife that he may have killed Schmidt and that he choked her and pushed her down the steps of the basement, according to authorities.

Pottstown police responded to Schmidt’s residence at 6:56 a.m. and discovered her body.

“She was lying on her back at the bottom of the stairs…obviously lifeless,” county Detective Todd Richard, a former Pottstown police officer, previously testified, referring to how authorities found Schmidt’s body.

Richard previously testified Carrero told authorities that after choking Schmidt to death he dragged her body to the basement area of the home, so that her children would not discover her body.

Authorities previously revealed Schmidt’s two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, were at the residence at the time of the early morning, violent altercation that led to Schmidt’s death and were asleep and unharmed in second-floor bedrooms.

After allegedly choking Schmidt to death, Carrero removed about $40 in cash and a debit card, belonging to Schmidt’s father, from Schmidt’s purse, according to testimony. Carrero allegedly stole Schmidt’s vehicle and eventually drove to Atlantic City, N.J., Ruther Glen, Va., and Hollywood, Fla., according to testimony.

Carrero allegedly used the stolen debit card 28 times between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3 and removed $3,384 from the account.

Carrero was captured about 2:10 a.m. Feb. 7 in the parking garage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. An officer from the Seminole Tribal Police took Carrero into custody after noticing Carrero acting suspiciously.